Updated at 8:39 a.m. Tuesday with information about how the crash occurred.

The driver who died in a crash on Interstate 45 in southern Dallas on Monday afternoon barreled into two 18-wheelers while driving the wrong way, police say.

The crash shut down both sides of the highway at Interstate 20 in southeast Oak Cliff about 3 p.m. The northbound lanes did not reopen until 8:30 p.m. because of a hazmat cleanup and the large equipment needed to tow the vehicles involved in the crash.

I-45 is shut down in both directions, at I-20 as a result of a major accident on the freeway. Details to come; try alternate routes.

Police spokeswoman Melinda Gutierrez said Tuesday that the driver who died was a 46-year-old Palmer man in a 2012 Ford F-150 pickup truck, which was southbound on I-45. He crossed the median for unknown reasons at 2:48 p.m. and drove head-on into oncoming traffic in the northbound lanes, police said.

The pickup struck a semi head-on, rotated and struck another semi on its side, Gutierrez said.

Dallas firefighters clean up after two tractor-trailers and a pickup were involved in a fatal accident on northbound Interstate 45 north of Interstate 20 in Dallas on Monday afternoon. (Tom Fox/Staff Photographer)

Dallas firefighters clean up after two tractor-trailers and a pickup were involved in a fatal accident on northbound Interstate 45 north of Interstate 20 in Dallas on Monday afternoon. (Tom Fox/Staff Photographer)

The cab of the first semi, a 2016 white International Truck Tractor towing a full trailer, caught fire in the second of four lanes. The driver is a 45-year-old man from Georgia.

The second semi, a 2003 Kenworth Truck Tractor towing a flatbed trailer, was driven by a 36-year-old man in the fourth lane.

The pickup driver was taken to a hospital, where he died upon arrival, Gutierrez said.

No other injuries were reported.

Dallas Fire-Rescue, as well as TXDot and its hazmat team, assisted in the cleanup.